What I learned from 7M views on YouTube.

Between 2013 and 2016, I was so laser focus on a side project that no
mermaid nor Berlin club could distract me from my goal:

I will publish a YouTube video every single day.

Nothing could stop me. I was a video production machine.
Recording 2 to 3 videos each evening and editing them out to always have one
video ready for the next day.
Looking at the numbers it’s only a total of 390 published uploads. But still, with
all the effort that went into it, it felt like this goal was accomplished

How did this start? I discovered YouTube as a marketing acquisition channel
in 2013. It fascinated me from 2 sides: a content creator perspective and a
business standpoint. Growing up editing videos shot with webcams, this
YouTube channel thing was something I had to try.

Here is what worked and what didn’t:

What worked

Thinking SEO content first. The 5 most viewed videos: 2,045,176 views
combined, all answered a clear search query.
Focusing on a core group of fans.
Being the first to post a video on one topic.
Repurposing content. E.g. this is what we can see these days from Twitch
streamers: publishing their best off on YouTube
Having one goal.

What didn’t work

Trying to change the core content of the channel.
Keeping motivation high. No change means that it becomes repetitive
quickly and kills the passion. As I was trying to please subscribers, the
content published didn’t make me proud anymore. The few who succeeded
until today managed to take their audience on a diversified content journey
with them.
Making money. This is not a good investment of one’s time. For the total
time spent on the project, revenue is ridiculous. Ad revenue alone is not the
way forward for creators and they know it

Overall this was a lot of fun, especially this time I went all-in and booked a
flight to attend a special event. But more on that in the next essay.

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Here is what worked and what didn’t:

What worked

What didn’t work

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